We exame the lived experienc of high-school stunts who participated lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ)-centered activism of some kd, highlightg the promise of gay-straight alliance groups by parg the experienc of stunts at schools wh gay-straight allianc (GSA schools) wh the experienc of stunts at schools that did not have an LGBTQ-specific group (no-GSA schools). We pare stunts at GSA and no-GSA schools based on their experienc of harassment, experienc of support om thory figur, and patterns of iendships. We fd that stunts at both typ of schools experienced harassment and heard negative ments about lbian and gay people. However, stunts at GSA schools reported more support om teachers and admistrators than stunts at no-GSA schools, who have stori of teachers and admistrators actively opposg equaly for LGBTQ people. Stunts at GSA schools reported a wi variety of iendships across sexual inti, while stunts at no-GSA schools felt more isolated and whdrawn. This much-need qualative parative analysis of stunts’ experienc brgs a human face to the improved qualy of life that schools wh gay-straight allianc n brg to young people.
Contents:
- GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
- SAFE SPAC: GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC SCHOOLS
- HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)
- THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
- GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER, STUDY FDS
GAY-STRAIGHT/GENRS & SEXUALI ALLIANC
Gay-Straight Allianc or Genrs and Sexuali Allianc (GSAs) have been associated wh improvements school safety, a key ponent of school nnectedns, for all stunts. Rearch specifilly lks the prence of a GSA to greater feelgs of school nnectedns among LGBT stunts. * gay straight alliances in high schools *
Rearch specifilly lks the prence of Gay-Straight Allianc or Genrs and Sexuali Allianc (GSAs) to greater feelgs of school nnectedns among Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, and Qutng (LGBTQ) stunts. Combg data on var characteristics of public schools and state anti-discrimatn laws wh anizatnal rerds on the formatn of GSA groups, the thors nsir the ndns unr… 123 Catns49 ReferencAdolcent homosexualy: psychosocial and medil implitns.
Usg qualative terviews wh young adults the Uned Stat and Canada who have participated gay-straight allianc, we unpack this plex ncept to nsir some of the dimensns along which safe spac might vary. Genr and Sexualy Allianc or Gay-Straight Allianc (GSAs) are stunt-anized clubs that aim to create a safe and welg school environment for all youth regardls of sexual orientatn or genr inty. 2009: A Yulee, FL school rejected stunts’ applitn for a GSA, objectg to the word “gay” “Gay-Straight Alliance” as well as an unrelated past cint volvg one of the club members before she was at the high school.
A recent US study found that one five gay and lbian high school stunts reported attemptg suici the prev year — five tim more than straight I was troubled to hear about schools and school boards that do not support stunts who want to start November 2010, the Halton Catholic District School Board near Toronto) banned GSAs.
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
This article exam the patterns of emergence of gay-straight allianc (GSAs) public high schools the Uned Stat. The extracurricular stunt groups offer safe spac, social support, and opportuni for activism to lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and straight stunts. Combg data on var characteristics of public schools and state anti-discrimatn laws wh anizatnal rerds on the formatn of GSA groups, the thors nsir the ndns unr which the groups are likely to form, as well as the social barriers to their formatn. Usg logistic regrsn and lear regrsn analysis, a number of characteristics mon among those schools are isolated that found the first wave of GSAs. The lotn of schools, the number of stunts, regn of the untry, and support groups outsi high schools are among those social forc that promoted the early adoptn of GSAs public schools. * gay straight alliances in high schools *
Equy clubs aren’t gog to cut signed to nont homophobic bullyg sound good, but by flectg the purpose away om acceptg GLBT stunts and avoidg the e of words like gay and lbian group nam, the msage to kids is clear: Non-straight inti are not tly accepted by the key rponsibili of schools are flouted when GSAs are not allowed.
The study referred to above found that suici attempts by straight youth were ne percent more likely muni that were unsupportive of gays; the prence of GSAs was one ditor of muny schools that don’t allow GSAs will have a hard time nvcg me — and more importantly their muni — that they are dog everythg possible to ensure the safety and acceptance of non-heterosexual, I’m optimistic. Gay-Straight Allianc, or GSAs, are stunt-led and stunt-anized school clubs that aim to create a safe, welg, and acceptg school environment for all youth, regardls of sexual orientatn or genr inty.
GSAs provi a supportive environment for lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) stunts, as well as those who are perceived by others to be LGBT, are qutng their inty, have LGBT iends or fay members, or jt re about LGBT issu. (Nati Harnik / AP)Edor’s Note: This article is part of a seri about the gay-rights movement and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall groups have always been about a simple, key objective: Stop all the groups are GSAs—Genr-Sexualy Allianc, though they were origally known as Gay-Straight Allianc—and that was their missn when they first rose to promence the late 1980s. Perhaps, the theory was, jt by existg, the groups uld make gay kids feel ls alone, and that self uld rce suici risk, which was mon among gay teens at the Lipk, a former high-school history teacher, an thor, and a proment LGBTQ-rights advote, was one of the GSA movement’s earlit pneers.
SAFE SPAC: GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC HIGH SCHOOLS
(Lipk, now his early 70s, drew spiratn om another queer-advocy school group, the Los Angel–based Project 10, the name a reference to Aled Ksey’s theory that about 10 percent of men are gay. ”Before long, siar mp clubs were croppg up— the Boston area and beyond—“simultaneoly” and “spontaneoly, ” says Sharon Tentarelli, who as a high-school junr 1989 found the GSA at the prtig boardg school Phillips Amy A iendship fed through the gay-rights movementGSAs sprang up anilly bee of the prence of lears who felt a need for them, not a natnal learship stcture that swooped and set them up.
Though they varied size and strategy om group to group, they tend to share the same basic visn, one articulated by Kev Jenngs, now 56, then a young high-school history teacher at a Boston-area boardg school lled Conrd Amy: Make gay stunts feel ls alone. In 1988 he found the first club to bear the “GSA” and raised the South a fundamentalist Christian fay whose relativ clud members of the KKK, Jenngs grew up surround by racial tolerance and homophobia, he says.
”Kev Jenngs (purple shirt) alongsi members of the Conrd Amy Gay-Straight Alliance at the 1993 March on Washgton for Gay, Lbian, and Bi Equal Rights (Courty of Kev Jenngs)It was a pivotal moment for Jenngs, who went on to -found the LGBTQ-youth advocy anizatn today known as GLSEN (formerly the Gay, Lbian, and Straight Edutn Network), wre var books on LGBTQ jtice schools, and serve as an assistant secretary the Department of Edutn unr Print Barack Obama. ”People like Jenngs are “the children of the Stonewall Revolutn, ” says Stephen Lane, a public high-school teacher and the thor of the 2018 book No Sanctuary: Teachers and the School Reform That Brought Gay Rights to the Mass. This is the first sign that such tste, admistrators, and school systems are disgenuo about nontg homophobia and discrimatn; they start out discrimatg agast your anizatn by tryg to dictate s name and prevent s name beg ed to most-easily nvey s purpose.
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC SCHOOLS
Such admistrators and tste abg children this manner are rpt, should not be allowed around stunts and should be removed om their post; they are a source of the very discrimatn gay straight allianc aim to bat.
Some policians are g ernment to wage a war to harm cizens and damage the health and wellbeg of gay, bi, and straight human begs by tryg to prevent important rmatn om reachg your iends and peers.
HOW TO START A GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE (GSA)
If policians try to stop you, for example, om creatg a gay straight alliance Middle School, then simply add a relig ponent to your club such as the J Gay Straight Alliance or the Children of God Gay Straight Alliance - showg love, passn, acceptance, unrstandg, and equaly to all God's children gay, bi, and straight to stand up agast bullyg and discrimatn. After all, the re msage of Christiany is not ntrolled by anti-gay groups, and there are plenty of welg relig groups and dividuals the USA who have every right to have clubs reflectg their clive Christiany.
In this paper, we add to this lerature by offerg an analysis of stunts’ experienc high schools that par schools wh an official gay-straight alliance group to schools whout a gay-specific stunt group. The views of stunts who navigated the landsp of their high schools—all of whom had an tert lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer (LGBTQ) equaly, jtice and activism—allow to unrstand the ntours of stunts’ experienc and the role of gay-straight allianc shapg the ntext of high do this through qualative terviews wh 53 young adults, ag 18–25, livg throughout the Uned Stat and Canada.
By parg the experienc of participants wh and whout a gay-straight alliance group, we offer an on-the-ground view of stunts’ high school liv while highlightg the impact of GSA groups. The normalcy of heterosexualy is naturalized and routized by the practic of everyday life high schools, while LGBTQ topics are, not all schools offer gay-straight allianc for their stunts, even as they have bee mon throughout the Uned Stat and Canada. Whereas the 2007 rearch report claims that ls than a quarter of high-school stunts were enrolled schools wh gay-straight allianc [10], the 2013 report not that jt over half of high-school stunts were enrolled schools wh gay-straight allianc [11].
THE GSA DIFFERENCE: LGBTQ AND ALLY EXPERIENC HIGH SCHOOLS WH AND WHOUT GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC
Th, the experienc of high-school stunts n vary wily, wh some stunts’ accs to gay-straight allianc beg unntroversial, other stunts havg to fight their school admistratns to start a club, and other stunts havg no accs at all to the this qualative analysis, we nsir stunts’ perspectiv on navigatg high schools wh and whout gay-straight allianc as LGBTQ stunts and alli. Enuraged by natnal LGBTQ social movement anizatns, such as GLSEN the Uned Stat and EGALE—Equaly for Gays and Lbians Everywhere— Canada, the groups are n by stunts, like any other club or stunt anizatn.
For example, gay-straight allianc form safe spac for stunts [2] and the safe spac n act as s of advocy and social change [19], as s of empowerment [20, 21, 22, 23], and as “unter-publics” where LGBTQ youth n refe youth subjectivy [24].
GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANC MAKE SCHOOLS SAFER, STUDY FDS
In addn, Toomey and lleagu [6] note that the benefs of havg participated a gay-straight alliance extend beyond the high school years to young adulthood (see also [25, 29]), while Poteat and lleagu [8] fd that the prence of a gay-straight alliance a school is associated wh ls tancy, smokg, drkg and suici than no-GSA schools. Their study fds that LGBTQ stunts (and heterosexual boys) at schools wh a GSA and/or anti-homophobic bullyg polici ( place for over three years) showed lower odds of past year discrimatn and lower levels of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
In addn, although gay-straight allianc empower their members to “break the silence” around homophobic school practic, they do not challenge, rhape or expose heteronormative school environments [31, 32] nor do they empower members at the anizatnal or muny level to create alns wh muny anizatns outsi the school settg [20]. We foc on experienc of harassment and negativy, the support of teachers and admistrators, and the iendship circl of stunts schools wh and whout gay-straight study particular has pared schools wh and whout gay-straight allianc [23]. Of those terviewed, 34 of our participants were enrolled a school wh a gay-straight alliance (GSA school), and 19 of our participants were enrolled a school whout a gay-straight alliance (no-GSA school).
Some of our participants, as we discs below, were not able to foc on the standard forms of activism, bee they were blocked om formg a gay-straight alliance the first analysis reveals more nsistenci the experienc of our participants than jt the type of activi they nducted durg their high school days.